Familiar feel: Sapotek’s Desktop Two, shown above, is built to have the familiar look and feel of popular operating systems such as Microsoft Windows. It includes Sun’s Open Office suite as well as a variety of open-source applications developed by Sapotek.
Sapotek
Online desktop systems could bridge the digital divide.
Cloud computing--the idea of relying on Web-based applications and storing data in the "cloud" of the Internet--has long been touted as a way to do business on the road. Now software companies are making entire Web-based operating systems. Built to work like a whole computer in the cloud and aimed at a wider audience, these browser-based services could help those who can't afford their own computer.
Having the look and feel of Microsoft Windows or other popular desktop programs, the Web-based operating systems bring together a selection of integrated Web-based applications that typically run with Flash or Java. Users can choose to save data locally or on the Internet. Joshua Rand, the CEO of Sapotek, which makes Desktop Two, says that a major goal of an online desktop is to get the collection of applications working together: "It's not a Tower of Babel desktop. It's entirely fluent." Desktop Two uses a number of open-source applications, including Open Office as its productivity suite.
Once a useful group of applications are collected in a familiar format, cloud computing becomes more accessible to people who aren't comfortable tracking down a series of individual Web applications and combining them, Rand says. Desktop Two's service is free for individuals, although a small scroll bar of ads appears at the top of the screen. The company launched its Spanish-language version, Computadora.de, in Mexico in 2003, three years before launching in the United States. Rand says that he and his business partner, Oscar Mondragon, who lives in Mexico, had observed while traveling that in spite of socioeconomic differences that determine whether individuals own computers and how much bandwidth they have, people were using the Internet everywhere, including in Internet cafes and libraries. With high levels of Internet penetration and the ubiquity of Flash, he says, it seemed like a good idea "to take the desktop and divorce it from the device." The result is a system that he says can be used by the large population of computer users worldwide--including students--who may not own a home computer. "One of our visions is to bridge the technological gap," says Rand. "We have a number of users for whom Desktop Two or Computadora.de is their computer."
In addition to advertising, Desktop Two makes money by licensing its system to universities and other institutions. Rand says that Universidad del Valle de Mexico and the Mexican branch of MetLife were early customers.
Although hosting a set of desktop applications for thousands of users would seem to put a load on a company's servers, Rand says that Desktop Two's system can handle the pressure. Desktop Two now has around 175,000 users worldwide, and Rand says that the system can support about 8,000 to 10,000 of them concurrently. A recent partnership with Sun Startup Essentials provides the company with equipment that should allow it to scale as high as 350,000 users, according to Rajesh Ramchandani, strategic marketing manager for startups at Sun. Ramchandani says that he was interested in Desktop Two in part because its system was so lightweight. "Scalability will never be an issue with the design architecture they have," he says. He notes that in order to scale, the company can simply add more servers without having to make many adjustments to the software.
It hopes the operating system will entice companies to use cloud computing technologies.
Nice start to ubiquitous computing
This is a nice start to the trend of ubiquitous computer. This trend in the computing technology frees up users from having home base computer with all their files and info.
Companies like PCnow and GoToMyPC enable individuals to access their home computer from any computer as long as their home computer is online. ZimDesk and DesktopTwo truly free one up from having a home computer. Once the speed catches up I am guessing this will be a trend in online secure computing in developing countries where computers are not own by the majority.
Shifting to ubiquitous computing will occur once more devices are internet compatiable, we are seeing this now with Apples Iphone.
Brian Glassman
Commercialization
Innovation Management
A call center where I work moved from PCs to the Sun thin client and total power consumption dropped over 10% from that change alone. The average PC draws 80-150 Watts, the Sun thin clients draw 4. Cooling for 2000 PCs is not trivial either. The noise difference between a large number of PCs and thin clients is stunning - all you can hear are voices on the phone. Cloud computing works for us.
Cloud computing is way more efficient from a materials point of view as well as the power aspect.
Try G.ho.st-Free Virtual Computer - Web OS
Check out G.ho.st (The Global Hosted Operating SysTem) at http://g.ho.st.
Unlike other web tops, G.ho.st is a real Web OS that bring a common desktop, file system and sign-in to the Web 2.0 applications.It provides 3GB of free online storage. G.ho.st is working hard to provide a fully Virtual Computer for anyone who wants to be mobile.
Post your feedback or suggest any features you would like to see at your G.ho.st virtual computer at http://g.host/forums
Thanks
Rami
Accessibility means allow people to use things. In computing, accessibility has grown led by the blind special needs and we know Flash technology is not accessible to them. Despite being possible to make computer applications with Flash it is essentially an animation technology. And screen readers which is what blind people use to use computer does not read animations.
To cut short, Flash is a problem and I think another solution should be thought.
Should check out AirSet's cloud computer at www.airset.com ... It was reviewed today on Lifehacker.com http://lifehacker.com/5112479/airset-creates-cloud-computers-for-your-data
To most companies, the desktop computers work just fine; there is no need to move the desktop to the cloud. However, many small businesses do need to move the servers to the cloud.
DriveHQ.com is one of the first few companies offering cloud storage and cloud IT services. It is now offering the version 5.0 Cloud Storage and Cloud IT Solution. Not only you can backup files to the cloud, you can also move your entire file server, FTP server, email server, web server and backup system to the cloud. You can create sub-users and sub-groups; you can set different user roles; share different folders to different users with different permissions. For a small business, Cloud-based storage, backup, sharing and Cloud IT Solution can save you a lot of cost, while offering better, more secure and reliable services that can be accessed from anywhere.
For more info, please visit: http://www.drivehq.com/. DriveHQ basic service is free.
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edfrizzell
1 Comment
desk top/lap top/palm top
Computer in the cloud, virtual keyboards and Ipod Touch put together seems to point to a new way of computing.
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teatiffany
1 Comment
Re: desk top/lap top/palm top
Here's another company in the U.S. that's doing the same thing: www.airset.com. They are providing people a free Web Computer for use through internet browsers. The UI is very intuitive for PC users. You can read a review on them here:
http://lifehacker.com/5112479/airset-creates-cloud-computers-for-your-data
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